Milo the stubborn Frenchie in Amsterdam

 

Milo the stubborn Frenchie in Amsterdam

As a Frenchie owner I have been through all the ups and down of owning one of this small amazing creatures. This blog aims at offering you some advises if you want to enrol in the Frenchy club and, for those of you who are already part of this glamour fraternity, it aspires to share thoughts on how to best serve our small, sometimes tough but always irresistible sturdy companion.

First first thing. Let me introduce my small 4 legged friend. This is Milo

1 and half year old puppy from Hungary. It's birthday is April the 13th and as any respectful Aries don't let him fool you from the picture. He is calm only because he is sleeping...

Joke aside. Milo is an amazing dog. Very curious and playful, he is always ready to boos your energy offering his company.

In this blog I will talk about products that I have tried and I will provide tips based on my own experience.We will be talking about:

• beds
• toys
• food
• tricks 

At the end I will also provide my contact details if you want to share some Frenchie passion with me.

- Section 1 : The right bed

Bed sweet bed. As you can see from the picture Milo enjoys long naps in his bed (especially after a full day of playing and adventures in Amsterdam). I have been trying multiple beds and notices the following:

• Frenchies like moving their beds. It is either because they want a better exposure to the sun (yeah they sun bath too 😃 ) or they want to get closer to their human companion . So be ready to suddenly see your Frenchie's bed being relocated to a complete different location. Milo was transported his bed from the kitchen area to the terrace (with all his toys on it). I still can't figure it out how he managed 😂 . The suggestion I have here is to chose for a bed which is not too heavy unless you suffer of OCPD and you wan to keep it under control 😉.
• Frenchies tend to bring their toys within their bed. These cuties will tease you 24/7 grabbing their favourite toys and trying to get close top you while proudly dodgeing any of our attempt to grab their toys. Eventually Milo will bring his toy on his bed where he will keep on chewing or will
• Frenchies will transform their beds into a toy if they are bored so be prepared to change it so now and then. I found that Milo prefers fluffy to rigid beds and indeed I tried many of them as you can see from below 😓

MILO'S FAVOURITE

As I said Milo loves fluffy style beds (you can also see it from the pic above). The one he enjoyed the most is the below Link to item below

https://amzn.to/3i5cloK

BOXED BED

Another solution that worked quite well (before Milo decided to play with it) was the boxed bed. It worked because:

- it was light enough to be transported around the living room (once even to the terrace where Milo enjoyed some sunbathing too 😆)

-Milo could easily collect his toy in there

this item is available https://amzn.to/3Q3cllw

Unfortunately I switched to this solution during a period of intense work for me and I must say that Milo was bit bored during those days. He found his "vendetta" by creating a hole into the bed and you can only imagine what happen next.... 😂. This is the reason I don't have any pic of the bed. I will try to find if I have any of what was left 😂

4 LEGGED SOFA

It is an elegant solution but I am a bit  about it for 2 reasons:

- it doesn't have enough space for Milo to collect his toys over

- the 4 legs can produce some noise especially when your 4 legged friend starts jumping on it

The one I bought for Milo is from Made.com . Unfortunately it seems that is not produced anymore. What I found handy is to combine it with a playing mat where Milo can still play and bring his toys during daytime. I still feel it was a bit of a confusing setting but it might work for your Frenchie. (I would love to know so please get in touch, you can find my e-mail at the end of this blog).

Below Milo enjoying his mat. If you go for it make sure it is washable and water (not only 😃) proof. My solution can be found https://amzn.to/3Cf7hVw

- Section 2 : The right toy

TUG OF WAR

I find it very interesting that a common trait among French bulldogs is their love for tug of war. For some strange reason these little but sturdy creatures all love pulling and chewing a rope. It seems to me that it is their way to create a connection with their human companion and Milo is not exception to the rule.

Be ready to buy multiple ropes since franchies love them and tend to wear them out in few weeks. I have been buying him multiple ropes which made Milo happy. The main suggestion I would give you is to buy a tick rope to maximise your puppy's level of enjoyment and save some money on your pocket.

The one I have found a good compromise between price and endurance is the below 

which is available at https://amzn.to/3CdzRGP

BALLS

Frenchies are curious creature that like interaction. A common tennis ball as this one let them easily interact with you. Milo loves running after a just thrown tennis ball fetch and try to bring it back. Indeed as you might have already expected there is always some problem with the returning phase 😅. You have probably noted that franchies are quick to run after and fetch thrown balls but are a bit shy when they need to return it. The returning phase usually become a mini tug of war. So any common tennis ball will do a nice job to entertain your puppy.

Unfortunately I don't have much time to spend with Milo during the day. So I was looking for a toy that could entertain Milo while I was working. Something that could take my part in the throwing part and could keep entertaining him while I am not there or during my working hours. What I found working pretty well is the cheerble ball. It is a battery powered ball which will engage your Frenchie with noise, authomatic movement and lights. It just needs to be charged once per day and it lasts around 6 hours.This item is available https://amzn.to/3GuiHr1

As you can see Milo loves chewing on it so I might need to stock up few of them. 😂

BATH TIME

What I noticed is that frenchies don't really enjoy bath time. Since I need to wash Milo every 2 / 3 weeks I had hard time finding a way to make him cooperating. What I found working really well is this lick mat which I place on the wall after having enriched it with some peanuts butter (franchise love that but be careful must be 100% peanuts). It is amazing how it is able to completely capture the attention of your puppy. He or she will be transported into a parallel dimension where only the taste of what they are licking matters while you are free to do what you want and can easily clean them all. I just love it. You can find this item https://amzn.to/3VFyAPD . To clean Milo I use this shampoo https://amzn.to/3Jb5ogx

BONE SHAPED CHEWING TOY

Frenchies love chewing. Thank God Milo has never chew on any of the furniture in the apartment (I am not sure I can say the same for my friend's apartment where I happen to leave Milo for few days while travelling.  I need to check around 😆). I am not sure if this is due to the anti chew spray I sprayed all over before leaving the house or is thanks to this chewable toy available https://amzn.to/3G970Vc

He spends quite some time every day chewing on it as you can see from the pic below

SQUEAKY CHICKEN 

The toy Milo has enjoyed the most is the squeaky chicken. I kept it as last because so much joy for your dog come with a price. It is the price of a quiet and calm room. I have used this toy as my last weapon when Milo was too exited with guests coming over or he was in the mood of extra attention I could not give straight away.  It is highly addicting since Milo enjoyed a lot the squeaky sound it come out of it while chewing it. I even had to hide it after he played with it just to give you an understanding of how much he loved it. As said it is a quite noisy squeaky sound so forewarned is forearmed. You can find this item https://amzn.to/3Z3eBxx

Below it is not a horror movie scene it is just what was left over of Milo's Squeaky chicken few weeks after he started playing with it. Milo is not Rambo it is just an energetic Frenchie 😆

- Section 3 : The right food

Milo loves treats. They are a powerful way to make him obedient and learn new tricks. What I found out is that franchies have a very delicate stomach so make sure that you have properly sealed the treat container once you are done.

I found that this item https://amzn.to/3WNbPKY. and this item https://amzn.to/3G5rhLA are Milo's favourite but I would encourage you to try some solution and then stick to it (as said our 4 legged companion are quite sensitive to changes). 

TIP: Whenever I try a new food solution I mix it with the previous to overcome any potential (leakage) inconvenience (I think we understand each other here 😁)

Dogs are what they eat so make sure they get the proper nutrients. A brand I found very appealing to Milo's taste is Orijen. It is one of the best out there and you can find this item 

https://amzn.to/3jHq6dJ

At the beginning I used a food slower since Milo was eating to fast and I had some unpleasant surprises on the floor few minutes afterwards (😩). Now that's a grown up I bought him a fashionable tower which is available https://amzn.to/3jHWSLT

- Section 4 : The right tricks

Frencies are intelligent creature and Milo as one of them can:

- Sit on his back at the magic work Osuwari (Yeah Milo speaks Japanese too but just a bit 😜)

- Wait to eat until someone (yeah not just me 😅) pronounce the magic word "GO"

- Offer you his left pow (indeed it doesn't work with his right one or I didn't manage so far)

- Lay on the floor

- Stay on his "Sit on his back" position until I pronounce the magic word "BREAK"

When training Milo I realised that it was all about repetition and compensation. So I used plenty of treats.

- Section 5 : Keep him / her clean

Milo is a clean dog but to make sure he is spotless I do reply on a couple of products. The first is some dog wipes to clean his pows and you his back too 😆😆😆. You can find them here https://amzn.to/3ZnrjXq

- Section 6 : Let's get in touch (if you want)

For any feedback, new product suggestions or to simply share some Frenchie passion with me please feel free to reach out to me at MiloTheStubbornFrenchie@gmail.com.

I plan to affiliate my blog to the Amazon Affiliate Program.